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Middle East
Gazan killed in Israeli air raid
Death is first death since the end of truce between Israel and Hamas.
Last Modified: 20 Dec 2008 14:16 GMT

An Israeli official said that the air strike was
targeting militants firing rockets at Israel [EPA]

A Palestinian man has been killed in an Israeli missile attack in the first death since the end of a six-month-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Ali Hijazi, 22, and two other men who were wounded were members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, witnesses said on Saturday.

The air raid targeted a group of fighters firing rockets towards Israel, an Israeli military official said.

The attack in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip came a day after the end of the ceasefire.

Sherine Tadros, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said: "The [Israeli] military told us that six projectiles have been launched from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel.

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"This is coming as very sad news for the people here who once again find themselves in the position they were in before the ceasefire, in terms of this almost daily aggression by Israel and very uncertain times in terms of what will happen next.

"From the Israeli side they have said that ... as long as there is peace from the Palestinian side they will respond with peace. But if there is aggression by Palestinian factions, they will fight back with force."

In Gaza, a ceasefire agreed in June officially ended at daybreak on Friday, after Hamas said it would not renew it.

Hamas blamed Israelis for the failure of the ceasefire, saying that they had not lived up to their obligations under the deal by continuing a blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Prison unrest

Meanwhile, in Ramallah, in the West Bank, a riot broke out on Saturday in a military prison, leaving prison staff and inmates injured.

Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's correspodent reporting from Ramallah, said: "Palestinian detainees inside the miltary camp tried to prevent Israeli prison authorities from raiding their sections and undertaking a search of the wards.

"We have heard repeatedly from these detainees about the humiliation they undergo on a daily basis during these searches.

"And it was at this point they [inmates] wanted to protest against the measures undertaken by the Israeli prison authorities."

Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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